Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to overcome.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | vaincs | I overcome | |
| tu | vaincs | you overcome | |
| il / elle / on | vainc | he / she / it overcomeson: we overcome / one overcomes | |
| nous | vainquons | we overcome | |
| vous | vainquez | you overcome | |
| ils / elles | vainquent | they overcome |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul vainc sa peur du vide.
Paul overcomes his fear of heights.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai vaincu | I overcame | |
| tu | as vaincu | you overcame | |
| il / elle / on | a vaincu | he / she / it overcameon: we overcame / one overcame | |
| nous | avons vaincu | we overcame | |
| vous | avez vaincu | you overcame | |
| ils / elles | ont vaincu | they overcame |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a vaincu sa peur du vide.
Yesterday, Paul overcame his fear of heights.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | vainquais | I used to overcome | |
| tu | vainquais | you used to overcome | |
| il / elle / on | vainquait | he / she / it used to overcomeon: we used to overcome / one used to overcome | |
| nous | vainquions | we used to overcome | |
| vous | vainquiez | you used to overcome | |
| ils / elles | vainquaient | they used to overcome |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul vainquait sa peur du vide.
Back then, Paul used to overcome his fear of heights.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | vaincrai | I will overcome | |
| tu | vaincras | you will overcome | |
| il / elle / on | vaincra | he / she / it will overcomeon: we will overcome / one will overcome | |
| nous | vaincrons | we will overcome | |
| vous | vaincrez | you will overcome | |
| ils / elles | vaincront | they will overcome |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul vaincra sa peur du vide.
Later, Paul will overcome his fear of heights.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | vaincrais | I would overcome | |
| tu | vaincrais | you would overcome | |
| il / elle / on | vaincrait | he / she / it would overcomeon: we would overcome / one would overcome | |
| nous | vaincrions | we would overcome | |
| vous | vaincriez | you would overcome | |
| ils / elles | vaincraient | they would overcome |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul vaincrait sa peur du vide.
Paul would overcome his fear of heights.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | vainque | (that) I overcome | |
| tu | vainques | (that) you overcome | |
| il / elle / on | vainque | (that) he / she / it overcomeson: (that) we overcome / one overcomes | |
| nous | vainquions | (that) we overcome | |
| vous | vainquiez | (that) you overcome | |
| ils / elles | vainquent | (that) they overcome |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul vainque sa peur du vide.
It is possible that Paul overcomes his fear of heights.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Meaning & usage
- to defeat, vanquish
- to win
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations